Deities and Faith
Must deities and Buddhas look like statues and have human bodies?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Not necessarily. Statues give them appearances we can easily recognise, but looking human does not mean deities and Buddhas themselves necessarily possess the same fleshly body. In discussing their existence, I leave room for possibilities and recognise different schools’ understandings.
Imagine ants that have never seen humans and picture us only in their own form. They would struggle to understand human appearance. People similarly use our senses, appearance and experience to imagine a world we do not yet understand. That is the reminder in this comparison.
From the perspective of faith, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas might be a ray or sphere of light, or spiritual energy of a higher order, rather than a familiar human form. The word ‘might’ needs to remain. Willingness to learn more prevents us assuming that a visible design has shown us everything about their appearance.